Alolan_Apples
“Assorted” Collector
While I normally talk about the same stuff on my blog, it's time to focus on a different subject - SpongeBob Squarepants. Originally, I was going to call Modern SpongeBob "New SpongeBob" while the more recent episodes is "Newer SpongeBob", but since that would be confusing, I decided to call it "Modern SpongeBob".
Here's the lowdown. Within its 19-year history, there was a time when people got more cynical about the show. Many have argued that the series starting going downhill since Season 4, but has improved since the second movie. I even remember when people were talking about the show going downhill back when I was a teenager. It was also when people were discussing the state Cartoon Network and Nickelodeon were in. Although it took me a long time to understand why most TV channels have jumped the shark, the case for SpongeBob was easily understandable.
What happened to SpongeBob since the first movie was that there was a change in management. Stephen Hillenburg, the creator, originally decided that the show is going to end at the 2004 movie, but since it was too popular, it continued, but he left. A new supervisor taken over, as well as the new writers since the old writers left too. The way they handled the characters and the show did not live up to the expectations of the previous, which made fans more resentful.
In general, people would say that Old SpongeBob (1999 - 2004) was better than Modern SpongeBob (2005 - 2014). I agree with that. However, not all of Modern SpongeBob is all that bad. In fact, there are some things they did better than Old SpongeBob. Here are the ways Modern SpongeBob is better:
#1 - The Episodes:
No, I'm not saying that the post-movie episodes by average are better than the pre-movie episodes. In fact, if I judged by the averages, Old SpongeBob beats Modern SpongeBob by several miles when it comes to the episodes. Not just because there were a lot of bad ones after the movie, but it's because the older episodes were a lot more classic. Although I didn't start watching until I was almost 10, it's been on since I was 6, right about the time I was leaving Kindergarten. Even so, we didn't have cable for a very long time, so I could only watch them on DVD. The ones I watched on DVD (the themed DVDs, like Sea Stories and Tide and Seek), I watched several timed on DVD. The ones I only watched on TV, not so much. All of the episodes I watched from DVD (save for Fear of a Krabby Patty and Shell of a Man), they premiered prior to the movie's release. So that's where I can say that Old SpongeBob can win.
But if I have to take an objective and unbiased viewpoint, the worst SpongeBob episodes are typically the ones that portray one of the five main characters as the episode's villain (unless if it isn't ridiculous or childish), that feature dark content that is not suited for children's shows, or that show Squidward get physically or mentally tortured. This isn't exclusive to Modern SpongeBob or the even newer SpongeBob. Old SpongeBob had episodes like this. Examples include Born Again Krabs, Clams, Opposite Day, and Valentine's Day. But the reason why Modern SpongeBob gets the hate for this was because there were a lot more episodes like this after the movie than before the movie. Even the Modern SpongeBob episodes where none of these apply were considered bad because of their focus on the character development they suffered over time. But when they do have a good episode, it tends to make the mark even when some from Old SpongeBob don't. Heck, even some episodes in Season 7 and Season 6 (the two many consider the worst) could pass that point while the ones I named here didn't. Basically speaking, not all of Modern SpongeBob is bad, and not all of Old SpongeBob is good. It's just that there were many episodes of Modern SpongeBob that were bad while there were many episodes of Old SpongeBob were classic.
#2 - The fact that they didn't end the show after the movie:
Had it ended by the time the movie came out, it would join the long line of the many modern cartoons that did not last too long (like Ed, Edd, and Eddy, Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends, Chowder, Adventure Time, Fairly OddParents, and anything else I could name). Some TV shows couldn't even last after two years. But the fact that the show continued after the movie, we got to see it last up toten twenty years. It's still on while the other big Nick show (The Rugrats) stopped after 16 years. It even has more episodes than The Rugrats (if you count 22 minutes as a full episode rather than 11 minutes). The golden age may have ended at the movie, but at least it got to continue and live to classic status like Mickey Mouse and Looney Tunes. And for a modern cartoon. It's also worth mentioning that back when it first took air, the 90's Nick shows were on. Now it's airing around the time some shows I never even heard of are on.
#3 - More TV Specials:
Prior to the first movie, the only TV specials they had were SpongeBob's House Party, the lost episode, and SpongeBob goes Prehistoric. Even they were considered small compared to some of the ones after the movie (like Atlantis Squarepantis, Pest of the West, Truth or Square, and SpongeBob vs the Big One). Those were more advertised and a lot longer than those double lengthed episodes from before the movie. Whether or not you liked them, there were at least more of them in Modern SpongeBob.
Conclusion:
Overall, I still think Old SpongeBob is better. In fact, Old SpongeBob is better than Modern Spongebob is worse. What I mean is that if I could rate it between -5 and 5 stars, Modern Spongebob would be -2 and Old SpongeBob is 4. Not that they are the actual ratings, but that's a numerical comparison. Yet, it's not better than Modern SpongeBob all the way, for the reasons listed above. If there are any other reasons, let me know.
Here's the lowdown. Within its 19-year history, there was a time when people got more cynical about the show. Many have argued that the series starting going downhill since Season 4, but has improved since the second movie. I even remember when people were talking about the show going downhill back when I was a teenager. It was also when people were discussing the state Cartoon Network and Nickelodeon were in. Although it took me a long time to understand why most TV channels have jumped the shark, the case for SpongeBob was easily understandable.
What happened to SpongeBob since the first movie was that there was a change in management. Stephen Hillenburg, the creator, originally decided that the show is going to end at the 2004 movie, but since it was too popular, it continued, but he left. A new supervisor taken over, as well as the new writers since the old writers left too. The way they handled the characters and the show did not live up to the expectations of the previous, which made fans more resentful.
In general, people would say that Old SpongeBob (1999 - 2004) was better than Modern SpongeBob (2005 - 2014). I agree with that. However, not all of Modern SpongeBob is all that bad. In fact, there are some things they did better than Old SpongeBob. Here are the ways Modern SpongeBob is better:
#1 - The Episodes:
No, I'm not saying that the post-movie episodes by average are better than the pre-movie episodes. In fact, if I judged by the averages, Old SpongeBob beats Modern SpongeBob by several miles when it comes to the episodes. Not just because there were a lot of bad ones after the movie, but it's because the older episodes were a lot more classic. Although I didn't start watching until I was almost 10, it's been on since I was 6, right about the time I was leaving Kindergarten. Even so, we didn't have cable for a very long time, so I could only watch them on DVD. The ones I watched on DVD (the themed DVDs, like Sea Stories and Tide and Seek), I watched several timed on DVD. The ones I only watched on TV, not so much. All of the episodes I watched from DVD (save for Fear of a Krabby Patty and Shell of a Man), they premiered prior to the movie's release. So that's where I can say that Old SpongeBob can win.
But if I have to take an objective and unbiased viewpoint, the worst SpongeBob episodes are typically the ones that portray one of the five main characters as the episode's villain (unless if it isn't ridiculous or childish), that feature dark content that is not suited for children's shows, or that show Squidward get physically or mentally tortured. This isn't exclusive to Modern SpongeBob or the even newer SpongeBob. Old SpongeBob had episodes like this. Examples include Born Again Krabs, Clams, Opposite Day, and Valentine's Day. But the reason why Modern SpongeBob gets the hate for this was because there were a lot more episodes like this after the movie than before the movie. Even the Modern SpongeBob episodes where none of these apply were considered bad because of their focus on the character development they suffered over time. But when they do have a good episode, it tends to make the mark even when some from Old SpongeBob don't. Heck, even some episodes in Season 7 and Season 6 (the two many consider the worst) could pass that point while the ones I named here didn't. Basically speaking, not all of Modern SpongeBob is bad, and not all of Old SpongeBob is good. It's just that there were many episodes of Modern SpongeBob that were bad while there were many episodes of Old SpongeBob were classic.
#2 - The fact that they didn't end the show after the movie:
Had it ended by the time the movie came out, it would join the long line of the many modern cartoons that did not last too long (like Ed, Edd, and Eddy, Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends, Chowder, Adventure Time, Fairly OddParents, and anything else I could name). Some TV shows couldn't even last after two years. But the fact that the show continued after the movie, we got to see it last up to
#3 - More TV Specials:
Prior to the first movie, the only TV specials they had were SpongeBob's House Party, the lost episode, and SpongeBob goes Prehistoric. Even they were considered small compared to some of the ones after the movie (like Atlantis Squarepantis, Pest of the West, Truth or Square, and SpongeBob vs the Big One). Those were more advertised and a lot longer than those double lengthed episodes from before the movie. Whether or not you liked them, there were at least more of them in Modern SpongeBob.
Conclusion:
Overall, I still think Old SpongeBob is better. In fact, Old SpongeBob is better than Modern Spongebob is worse. What I mean is that if I could rate it between -5 and 5 stars, Modern Spongebob would be -2 and Old SpongeBob is 4. Not that they are the actual ratings, but that's a numerical comparison. Yet, it's not better than Modern SpongeBob all the way, for the reasons listed above. If there are any other reasons, let me know.
